More hens given new lease on life

Animal Place, a farm animal sanctuary in Northern California, has once again pulled off an amazing rescue, saving 500 factory hens from certain death.

Details of the rescue, by agreement with the farm, are being kept confidential, but Animal Place has a program that asks farms to spare the animals and allow the organization to place them for adoption.

Here’s a video showing the hens in their few minutes of freedom.

The hens were part of a Central Valley egg farm and the hens, nearing the end of their most productive period, were heading to slaughter. The hens aren’t killed for their meat, however. There are two basic types of chickens — those raised for their meat and those raised for egg production. Layers aren’t considered tasty enough for the dinner table.

The chickens will be cared for by Animal Place and be available for adoption in about a month. To adopt, or contribute to this terrific group, go to their website. The more homes they can find in advance, the more chickens they can rescue.

Even though the hens have many years of life ahead of them, once their production slows down at about 12 to 18 months they are killed killed and replaced on the line with younger ones. That’s the life of an egg-production chicken. They are hatched into the system, living their short lives in cages, inside of barns, unless someone intervenes on their behalf.

Hens experiencing life outside of the cage for the first time. (Animal Place Sanctuary)

Animal Place has rescued more than 14,000 hens in the past three years. Most have been adopted as pets by families throughout California, Oregon and Washington. One memorable rescue sent hundreds of chickens to the East Coast where new homes awaited.